Ice & Fire
by NotSorry
Summary: Quinn and Santana are natural enemies with a secret between them that could ruin everything if revealed. Quinn's fine with just hating the other girl, but Santana has other ideas. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**_Chapter One_**

* * *

The girl watched avidly as a flame flickered softly on her palm, rising and shrinking in time with the girl's breath. It was hot, and the girl could feel that clearly, but it was comforting to her, the pain familiar after years of practice, barely pain at all. Besides, it's not like it burned her. When extinguished, her pale palm would be completely unblemished.

The girl's blonde hair fell in front of her wide, hazel eyes, ruining her concentration on the flame. It flickered weakly before snuffing out, and the girl sighed with annoyance. Her slender fingers, still warm from the flame, tied her hair back and then once again she held her palm out in front of her, trying to focus on the warm in her belly.  
It was there, like it had been as long as she could remember; a strange fire that flared when she was angry or happy or excited, and shrunk to almost nothing when she was sad, taking all of the warmth in her life with it. Taking a deep breath, the girl, Quinn, imagined the fire as red-hot cords, coiled into a ball, tightly knotted in the usual excitement at this task. Summoning fire never got boring.

Quinn imagined a small cord of the fire slowly slither out of the knot, up towards her palm, spreading the warmth throughout her whole body. The warmth then turned to heat, painful, that was suddenly taking over her whole body. The blonde gritted her teeth and a few tears leaked out of her eyes as the feeling of being engulfed by flames overcame her, making it hard to breath and even harder to concentrate. The effort was _killing_ her. Every bone, every muscle and fibre and cell in her body was on fire, but still her eyes remained fixed on her palm. It was searing hot, glowing faintly when suddenly, the pain stopped, and a small flame once again flickered happily on her palm.

Quinn sagged back onto her bed in relief and wiped away the hot tears on her cheeks. _Twice_. In one day, she'd summoned flame twice and through the _complete and utter exhaustion_, she laughed happily, the fire responding to the emotion and growing in her palm until it was almost too big for her to control. Taking a deep breath, Quinn concentrated the mental image of a small, manageable flame, and it shrunk accordingly.

For a few hours, Quinn Fabray played with the flame on her palm, moulding it into miniature fire sculptures and seeing how big she could get it without losing control and how small she could get it without it being snuffed out. The flame spoke to her with its movement and her mind could almost hear it speak, telling her how it loved being outside, instead of stuck in her soul and body, so restricted and unable to be in its true form. She stroked it gently with the fingers on her other hand, enjoying the tingling warmth and laughing as the flame curled affectionately around her finger. The fire was her _friend_.

A knock on the door hours after she'd summoned the flame brought her out of her reverie, and with a whispered apology, Quinn clenched her fist and let the fire seep back into her body. Once recovered from the feeling, she got up, wiped her forehead of the sweat beads the heat had given her, and opened the door to the smirking face of her only enemy on this continent- Santana Lopez.

Quinn stepped back with a gasp, her eyes becoming wide. Santana's eyes were burning with intensity as she strode into Quinn's room and closed the door behind her. The room, usually warm, become colder and darker with the ice user's presence.

In this world, there were people who could manipulate the four elements, a rare and secret skill that few but the users knew about. At any given time, there were only about fifty people on earth with this ability. Quinn had only ever met an air user and another fire user, the two passing though Lima by coincidence and finding her, and Santana Lopez, a water user who, as well as the ability to use water, was also born with the one- in- a thousand years ability to turn that water into ice, a skill water users trained for centuries to master, making good use of their extended lives.

The Hispanic girl wore her dark waves in a bun today; along with a curve-hugging white dress that made look irresistible, and Quinn, through her fear, had to stop herself from shivering in pleasure as those eyes, normally dark but temporarily ice blue as a result of recent ice using, burned into her own.

"Santana," breathed Quinn, "What are you doing here?"

The smirking brunette stepped closer to Quinn, her aura radiating a sharp coldness that made Quinn uncomfortable, the fire flare in protest. How dare this woman allow her cold to take over their warmth in their domain? Quinn's eyes flared angrily at this point, and the shadow of her inner flame could be seen by the other girl, which made her smirk even more. Suddenly, the room pulsed with hot and cold as the girls silently battled for control. It suddenly occurred to Quinn, as she sent out a flare of heat, that she was glad her mother wasn't home. In her moment of distraction at this thought, Santana quickly sent out a particularly strong and sharp wave of cold that knocked Quinn back onto her bed and made the dark haired girl laugh.

"Oh, Q, you shouldn't allow yourself to get distracted like that," she said, walking around the room with her fingers trailing over the blonde's belongings, leaving a hint of frost on everything she touched. Quinn glared at her angrily at Santana as she sat up, brushing herself off and covering herself in a blanket of warmth to combat the chill.  
"What do you want, Santana?" she demanded. "You can't fight me, it's against the rules, you know that."  
The darker girl snorted. "Oh yeah, preserving our kind, blah blah blah. But don't worry, blondie, I'm here with a proposition."

The fire was shouting at Quinn that there was something up, this couldn't be safe. Quinn agreed completely. She'd known Santana her whole life, and at the moment they attended McKinley High School together, and she knew this girl. She was always up to something, plotting and scheming and manipulating people's emotions.

"You're not trying to sleep with me, are you?"

Santana suddenly sat down on Quinn's bed, crossed legged, smiling fake-sweetly at Quinn. It was unnerving.  
"Q, honey, it occurred to me that we this little rivalry of ours is stupid."

Quinn laughed humourlessly. "Santana, we tried to kill each other at the age of fifteen. Rivalry is a bit of an understatement."

Again, that smile. "Well, it's a bit silly, isn't it? I mean, I know that you fire users naturally hate us, but why? Hundreds of years ago, when there were more of us, that might have made sense, but we're depleting and personally, we have nothing against each other."

"Where are you going with this, Lopez? And we clash. Our auras are constantly battling each other. Fire against ice, if you will."

"I want us to be friends."

There was silence for a few moments before Quinn started giggling.

"Oh, Santana, what are you _on_?"

Those eyes slowly melted into their natural brown and for a moment, Quinn actually thought Santana was hurt. She knew her well (_keep your friends close, your enemies closer_). Something was up, that was sure, but maybe it wasn't a plan. Maybe she was, dare she think it, lonely. Maybe she was frustrated, as Quinn was; that she had to train herself with her abilities and that she couldn't talk to anyone about them and that she had to isolate herself from other people unless they noticed them.

Santana was silent, staring at Quinn with those hypnotising dark eyes, and she realized she was serious. _Friends_. Santana Lopez wanted to be her friend.

"Um..."

* * *

**Tell me what you think? This is the first time I've done anything AU-ish. It's not going to be very long, three or four parts, but I'm only going to continue if the feedback thinks I should, you know? I've changed some parts of the Glee plot, like the Unholy Trinity friendship isn't exactly on. And you know, lots of things have been cut out, but you probably won't notice that much, because this is centred on Quinn and Santana. **

**So yeah. Feedback would be very much appreciated.**


	2. Chapter 2

_****_**I have some mixed feelings about this chapter, as it gets some stuff out of the way without too much detail, but I feel as though that's necessary if I want this story to stay at my planned length... That is, no more than five chapters. Anyway, thank you for the positive response I got for the first chapter :) And for those questioning my decision to make Santana ice and Quinn fire... I feel like it better suits their personalities. **

* * *

_**Chapter Two**_

"Hey, Q!" a falsely cheerful Santana said loudly, skipping over to Quinn in the halls and earning odd looks from people around them. Their fellow students were used to a cold, aloof Santana Lopez, and this was obviously a worrying contrast. Quinn thought she saw a girl mouth "evil" to her friend nearby, but she couldn't be sure. But then again, even the blonde wasn't sure what her apparent "new friend" was up to with this- was it an act or not?

Quinn grabbed her books out of the locker she'd been trying to open when Santana greeted her and closed it quickly, not wanting the other girl to see the many pictures she had of fire on the inside of the door. It would be embarrassing if the girl realized just how obsessed Quinn was with fire, but then again, there was every chance she decorated her own locker with pictures of ice bergs.

Santana was leaning against the locker beside Quinn, who was now staring at her closed locker door and taking deep breaths to calm down the fire in her belly. It was freaking out at the presence of the ice user so soon after its prolonged exposure to her yesterday. The darker girl was grinning, probably aware at the effect she had on Quinn, who wasn't quite sure how to talk to the other girl. She hadn't exactly agreed to be her friend yesterday. She'd sat there in shock for a few minutes before Santana just gave her a sweet smile and told her she'd talk tomorrow.

"Hello, Santana." Quinn said finally, turning to the girl and hiding her discomfort. "It's, uh, nice to see you again."

The darker girl smirked, and ran her finger over the metal she was leaning on, leaving a slight condensation in its trail. Quinn suppressed a shudder. "We're going to have so much fun being friends, Q. We'll go shopping together; do each other's nails..."

Quinn couldn't help but let a snort escape. "Sure." As the bell rang, she left and Santana fell into step with her. "I don't get you, though. This is all so sudden. I mean, you must have an agenda."

"I like seeming mysterious. It adds to my image."

As they got to English, one of the three classes they shared, instead of going their separate ways Santana followed her cheerfully to two seats in the back. The ever meddling and curious eyes of Rachel Berry followed them suspiciously, and the blonde rolled her eyes. The girl probably thought Santana was blackmailing her or has a sniper on her or something.

Halfway through a lecture on something Quinn couldn't make herself pay attention to, Santana passed a note to Quinn.

_Stop sucking on your pencil, it's distracting me ;)_

With a blush, Quinn replied,

**You know, I never said I agreed to this friend thing. I don't trust you. **

_You didn't need to agree; I saw it in your eyes. And nobody trusts me._

**Fine, but can you not make... sexual comments? Some of us have shame.**

_Don't worry, honey, I'm not coming onto you. Just stating a fact._

**What's your agenda, anyway? One day you want to kill me, the next be my friend? What?**

_I don't want to kill you! I haven't since we were fifteen and I thought you were plotting with those travelling "users" to eliminate me... And that fight was before we found out killing another one was taboo. _

**Even still, we were both in hospital for two weeks.**

_But we're over that, right? Friends. _

**But why?**

_... You intrigue me. I want to get to know you better. _

**I don't understand you!**

_You don't need to. Look, after Glee club, you're coming over to my house._

**I don't think I'd be comfortable in an ice cave.**

_How do you think I felt in your furnace?_

**Quite comfortable, after you dropped the temperature by twenty degrees!**

_Whatever. You're coming to my house. We're hanging out. No questions._

**This is how you normally make friends?**

_Only when I like them ;) See ya in Glee._

* * *

"_Does it have to be so freaking cold_?"

Quinn was sitting on Santana's pure white bed and holding back shivers as her "friend" chose music. The only response to her question was a laugh, and Santana turned around with a smile. It was the first genuine smile she'd seen on the girl and it sent a sort of unexplainable flutter in her stomach.

"Seriously, Santana! This is killing me!"

"You'll live, Q. Just relax, okay. Listen to the music and be cool."

Soon they were both sitting on the bed in a surprisingly comfortable silence, unsure of what to talk about. Music was softly drifting from the iPod dock on Santana's desk, a song Quinn had never heard before.

_You made a mark on me,  
Now I can't let you be, _

Santana's voice softly joined the singer's.

_I feel see through,  
Can you see through me, _

Her eye's caught Quinn's.

_When I act this way,  
I hope that its okay,  
That I'm crazy,  
Are you crazy, too?_

The blonde looked down, then around the room for a topic of conversation. Anything to distract from the odd feeling that Santana's eyes gave her.

"You like reading?" she asked, spying the full bookshelf near the desk.

Santana shrugged, smiling slightly. "Yeah, well, when you don't have friends, fictional characters always make good company."

Quinn smiled at her, genuinely, and felt a bit of the tension in her shoulders ease. "Who's your favourite author? Personally, I like..."

* * *

It took three weeks for Quinn to be entirely comfortable around Santana. Once she had calmed down the fire, reassuring it that at the first sign of trouble she'd leave, Quinn allowed herself for the first time to have a friend she could be honest with. Despite the physical discomfort she got when she didn't brace herself for the presence of the other girl, because Santana was more powerful than her, and her aura was constantly fighting with Quinn's. Ice against fire. The girls were too young to be able to control that aspect of their gifts. And besides, as Santana pointed out one day- opposites attract.

Quinn's fire, her inner voice, conscience, and closest friend, hated Santana. The flame hated ice, distrusted it, like frozen water had its own personality, and the girl was ice personified, personality-wise, too. Sometimes it was like fighting with herself.

Santana had a similar problem, too. While her inner power was not as... solid, in image, as Quinn's was, she had one all the same. It was a pleasant chill in her stomach, normally, which turned to ice when she was angry. When happy and content, there was a serene pool of water.

Around Quinn, it changed constantly.

One minute the water was restless, thrashing around or freezing and melting and never staying in the same state for too long. It was frustrating, because she was used to having control over her emotions, but this is what it had been like for her around Quinn long before she'd approached the girl. From when they were fifteen and in the middle of battle, the first time each of them had truly used their powers beyond the odd flame or frozen pool of water (_fuelled by anger, and the thought that the other wanted to destroy the other's powers... but that was a story for another time_) and Santana had seen the glint of passion in her eyes, and despite how much Santana hated it, the way she manipulated the fire was... quite beautiful.

That's why she finally gathered the courage to befriend Quinn. She was Santana Lopez, and she always got what she wanted.

And what she wanted was Quinn Fabray.

* * *

**Corny ending, but you know. It's the beginning of my explanation as to why Santana befriended Quinn and that she sort of has feelings for her... I'll explain more in the next chapter, I hope.**


	3. Chapter 3

_**A short chapter just to establish some things. Thank you for being patient :)**_

* * *

The thing about Santana and Quinn being quite literal opposites was that they naturally gravitated away from each other. Like two of the same magnetic poles being forced together, the two girls unconsciously stood at least a foot away from the other. However, that didn't mean they didn't sometimes forget that. When they weren't thinking, or were too caught up in what they were doing, they would sometimes find themselves leaning towards each other, almost touching... Then they'd realize what they were doing and bring it to the forefront of their minds and would move away from each other as fast as possible.

The first time Quinn and Santana touched physically since their gifts developed, was... electrifying. For just a moment, the two girls felt as though they were capable of flying, light and carefree, while at the same time heaviness settled in their heads and minds and they knew they would have to fight to fly. Santana felt a wave of heat run through her body and instead of feeling disgusted and uncomfortable, the feeling was welcome and pleasant, a part of Quinn inside her for a moment, filling her from her head to toes and it was almost arousing.

Quinn could only describe the feeling of touching Santana as almost drowning from the inside, a wave of cool water flowing through her body and making it hard to breathe in the best possible way. Like her magical essence had with Santana, the invisible water filled her, everywhere, and in that moment she was aware of the other girl, somehow, instead her. A shiver, half chills at the cold of it and half in pleasure at the realization that this cold was _Santana_, ran through her.

It all happened in a moment. Their hands, which had accidentally brushed together on the way to Glee, disconnected and all those sensations faded away. The two girls froze in mid-step and their eyes met. They hadn't touched for years, even after they became friends, because their auras still clashed and they unconsciously avoided it. But now, when they had, despite the discomfort of their inner voices, Quinn's flame and Santana's water... It was addictive, arousing (if they were being honest to themselves) and one of the most amazing feelings either had ever felt.

"Shit," Santana. They began walking again and for the entirety of Glee club, couldn't keep their eyes away from the other for more than a minute. Like magnets, they were drawn to each other now. The two clashing elements combined inside them and they wanted, needed more of the other.

No, no_, no_!

Quinn threw her bag on her bed and growled in frustration. She paced her room, fidgeting, while her mind swam with thoughts that completely contradicted the messages her heart and body were sending her.

_What you felt with Santana today? That tingle of pleasure? Not exactly platonic, is it? _Her heart would supply, while her brain screamed things along the line of, _This is wrong! She's up to no good! You can't be attracted to someone like her! Plus, you're straight, remember?  
_Her heart would helpfully point out, _it's not about attraction, but who you fall in love with, and you've never actually been in love, have you? Not really._

**No, no, NO.**

The blonde fell on her bed and screamed into her pillow. She was attracted to Santana. Maybe? Probably. What else could explain these sudden feelings for her? No, not feelings... sensations. They couldn't be feelings... Right?

* * *

Santana met Quinn at school the next day with a smirk that promised danger. Quinn remembered yesterday, how they'd not spoken to each other after that moment of contact, and blushed. She greeted Santana while avoiding her eye and the two acted, almost, as though yesterday had never happened. They didn't mention it, or talk about it- the only different was that Quinn stayed a respectable distance away from Santana and kept her arms firmly clutching her shoulder bad, obviously trying her best not to touch her friend again. Santana noticed this- how could she not?- and continued smirking, her mind planning the ways she could use the new found information about their abilities.

Yes, this would be fun.

* * *

The two girls sat next to each other in English that day, as usual for the last few weeks. They chatted idly about Glee and music while waiting for the teacher, and suddenly, Santana put her hand over Quinn's. The blonde, who had been in the middle of a sentence, stopped talking and froze, the sensations flowing through her – so much stronger than yesterday. Santana felt it too (she held her hand in place, and the warmth came in waves through her body) but just stared into Quinn's eyes, which were almost watering with the ice that Santana supposed was flowing through her.

Neither girl moved, though that would be the wise thing to do. It felt wrong in all the right ways, touching, and after a minute it was overwhelming them, the only thoughts in their heads of the other girl.

Quinn was almost thankful when the teacher started the class. She pulled her hand away from Santana's and took a few deep breaths. Her cheeks were flushed and she felt pleasantly cold and it was mortifying- most of all, the _arousal_ that came with Santana's touch. Oh god. With a glance to the side, she noticed Santana breathing heavily, clenching her fist and eyes closed tight. Did she have the same affect on the ice user, Quinn wondered? Did Santana feel Quinn's warmth flowing through her and did it feel as good as Santana's chill when it ran through Quinn?

Suddenly, the blonde was nervous about tonight, when she had planned on staying at Santana's house. How could she control herself if she was alone with the girl, or worse, if they touched again?


	4. Chapter 4

**I am the worst person on EARTH. I AM SO VERY, VERY SORRY IT HAS TAKEN ME THIS LONG TO PUBLISH THIS CHAPTER. I HAVE BEEN ENTIRELY TOO DISTRACTED BY LIFE AND ALSO MY NEW FANDOMS, AND I AM ONCE AGAIN, VERY VERY SORRY. MANY APOLOGIES. HUNDREDS OF THEM. SORRY.**

**Warnings: _Sexual thoughts and swearing._**

**Disclaimer_:_ _If I owned "Glee", you could be damn sure that the fans would be a million times for pleased with season 4 than they are. I'm just going to ignore that season 4 is actually happening, to be honest. Also a lot of season 3. So yeah, I own nothing._**

**Okay, so, yeah. I hope you enjoy this chapter! **

* * *

It dawned on Santana, as she watched Quinn sleep, that maybe this whole friendship thing hadn't been innocent from the start. The blonde was sleeping on Santana's bed, her body covered in every blanket they could locate- Santana liked to keep her bedroom _cold_. As she stared at Quinn, the ice user absent-mindedly drew pattern in frost on her arm, enjoying the cold as it seeped through her skin. Using ice, though it came naturally to her, took more energy than water, but it felt better. She felt powerful; as though nobody could touch her, destroy her- except Quinn Fabray, the beautiful, innocent fire user... Back then, when they were kids, was it really hate Santana felt when she fought Quinn, or fear? She certainly admired the girl... Which is what led to this friendship in the first place. She admired her, feared her and her powers, and at the same time wanted to know her. Wanted to be close to her and know her secrets purely because she wanted her trust. Because it was something she'd value. Does she have her trust now? After all, sleeping exposes a certain vulnerability, something that Santana, a couple of months ago, would have considered exploiting. Now she just smiled, and a voice in the back of her mind commented helpfully that she'd gone "soft".

She couldn't find it in herself to care.

Quinn rolled her in sleep and mumbled. Santana smiled and, from her position sitting at the end of the bed, reached out to touch her leg through the blankets. The warmth was becoming bearable when she was around Quinn, almost welcomed. A couple of months ago, she would have cringed at the thought of being near her, absorbing the warmth that radiated from the blonde's body. But now... Santana shivered involuntarily. Now she was almost addicted. Smirking, she briefly considered touching Quinn's bare flesh. Her hand hovered over the girl's exposed ankle, uncertain, before lowering it so that it was barely a millimetre away. Santana took a steadying breath, and placed her hand on Quinn.

The blonde startled awake with a gasp, but Santana did not move. It was painful but amazing at the same time. Quinn stared at her in shock, her expression dazed, but did not attempted to break the contact. Both girls' breathing was heavy, and the shudder that passed through Quinn confirmed to Santana that the other girl liked the sensation as much as she did. Letting out the softest groan, Santana lifted her hand.

"Santana..." Quinn buried her face in the other girl's pillow. "Why?"

"Because I wanted to see if it felt as awesome as it did last time."

"_Awesome..._" Quinn raised her head briefly to send her friend a reproachful glare. "I wouldn't say awesome."

"What would you say?"

"Thrilling, maybe," she said after a moment's consideration. "Or-"

"Arousing?"

Fuck- Santana hadn't meant to say that. She'd meant to say something like _weird_, or _odd_. She hadn't planned on bringing up the elephant in the room, but judging by the embarrassed look on Quinn's face, she certainly hadn't been the only one thinking it.

"Don't touch me while I sleep, Santana," was the only reply her little slip got- and she didn't know if she should be grateful or not. "Or at all, unless I ask you to."

"You'll be asking me often?"

"Goodnight, Santana. You should try to sleep, too."

"Yeah, well," the ice manipulator mumbled as Quinn drifted off again. "Whatever."

She didn't end up sleeping that night.

* * *

In Biology, one of the few classes she had without Quinn, the fire user thought about her predicament.

Santana always got what she wanted, and always had. It was a simple truth in her life and one she was grateful for. In the end, she got what she wanted, and now, she wanted something new.

Quinn Fabray.

Well, she had wanted the girl for a while, but now she was finally ready to act on it.

Unfortunately, she wasn't particularly sure how.

Quinn wasn't like the many guys and girls she'd seduced in the past. Quinn was sophisticated, Quinn was straight, and Quinn was going to be more than just a casual fuck.

So Santana had definitely gone soft, because dating? Serious, monogamous dating? It wasn't something she was all too familiar with, and would definitely be a challenge. It would ruin the independent image she had made for herself, the carefully built up walls that protected her, because she knew that to date Quinn, she would have to be completely honest with the other girl about everything for it to be serious.

_Why the fuck do I even want a serious relationship with Quinn fucking Fabray?_

The water inside her froze suddenly, almost angrily, and the room's temperature dropped. The students shivered and looked around, confused, and Santana quickly calmed herself and slowly drew the coldness into herself. _Stupid_, she scolded herself. _You can't just lose control like that. _

As the room temperature went back to normal, Santana prayed that this whole thing with Quinn would be resolved soon- either she got what she wanted and managed to get Quinn to date her, or Quinn completely ignored her and they would both be able to forget that this little friendship had happened at all, and everything would go back to the way it was before.

* * *

Quinn answered her phone a month and a half after she had befriended Santana and was greeted with the fire user's voice saying blatantly; "We should go on a date."

The blonde's jaw dropped and she blinked, before tentatively replying, "Um, can you please repeat that? I think I misheard."

Santana gave a low chuckle. "Oh, you did not. You and me, Quinny. A date. Then hopefully another date. Then hopefully making out in the back of that nice car of yours. What do you think?"

"I, uh, what, Santana!" Quinn spluttered. "You've got to be joking! We can't date!"

"Why not?"

"Because of... the fire thing! The ice thing!"

"That's no reason," Santana scoffed. She was glad Quinn couldn't see the way her face was betraying her- for the first time ever, Santana Lopez was _nervous_ about asking somebody out and being rejected. "That would just make it better. Come on, you can't tell me you haven't had a few fantasies about some _physical contact_ in some more _intimate_ places?"

Quinn shivered. Santana's voice was just dripping with sex, and she tried to ignore show pleasant it was, and how it would sound whispering in her ear while their hands roamed and-

"Shit, Santana!" Quinn groaned. "That's... No, okay? It can't happen."

"But you want it to happen," the ice user pointed out with a smug voice. "You know you do."

"Shut up," Quinn grumbled, and hung up her phone. She fell backwards on her bed, trying to block out the inappropriate, definitely-not-heterosexual thoughts that were swimming through her mind.


End file.
